This odyssey into the distant past carries us back to the awesome
mysteries of the exotic, primeval world of The Clan of the Cave Bear,
and to Ayla, now grown into a beautiful and courageous young woman.
Cruelly cast out by the new leader of the ancient Clan that adopted her
as a child, Ayla leaves those she loves behind and travels alone through
a stark, open land filled with dangerous animals but few people,
searching for the Others, tall and fair like herself. Living with the
Clan has taught Ayla many skills but not real hunting. She finally knows
she can survive when she traps a horse, which gives her meat and a warm
pelt for the winter, but fate has bestowed a greater gift, an orphaned
foal with whom she develops a unique kinship.
One winter extends to more; she discovers a way to make fire more
quickly and a wounded cave lion cub joins her unusual family, but her
beloved animals don't fulfill her restless need for human companionship.
Then she hears the sound of a man screaming in pain. She saves tall,
handsome Jondalar, who brings her a language to speak and an awakening
of love and desire, but Ayla is torn between her fear of leaving her
valley and her hope of living with her own kind.
Second in the acclaimed Earth's Children(R) series